Obama is wrong: Ten presidents better qualified than Clinton

PASADENA, Calif., August 8, 2016 —Hillary Clinton’s record is widely ignored and distorted by the mainstream media. They now push the liberal narrative that Clinton is the “most qualified” candidate ever. Clinton’s supporters speak that phrase with conviction, as if it were fact.

It is mind boggling that the academic President Obama could even say that with a straight face.

To some extent this is pure opinion; people disagree on what qualifies a person for the presidency, so it is impossible to definitively say anyone is the most qualified candidate ever. But what can’t be denied is that there are candidates from our history far more qualified.

Hillary’s qualifications include being an attorney, U.S. senator from New York and United States secretary of state. But those are items on a resume, not qualifications. They tell us what her job was, not whether she did it well or learned anything from the experience.

These qualifications are no more than stepping stones to the White House, and her time in those positions does not demonstrate the gravitas that others have brought to public service.

Here are some candidates who ran for president with records much stronger than Hillary Clinton’s.

Thomas Jefferson, #3, 1801–1809: One of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Virginia, secretary of state, ambassador to France. He is considered to be one of the most influential persons of the Revolutionary War era.

Ronald Reagan, #40, 1981–1989: President, Reagan spent eight years as a the governor of one of the largest states in the nation before becoming a prominent spokesperson for his party during the six years between being the chief executive of California and president.

James Monroe, #5, 1817–1825: An author of our country’s founding document, governor of Virginia, senator, secretary of state, acting secretary of war during the close of the War of 1812, ambassador and Revolutionary War hero.

James Buchanan, #15, 1857–1861: Pennsylvania House of Representatives, congressman, U.S. minister to Russia, U.S. senator, secretary of state, U.S. minister to the United Kingdom.

James Polk, #11, 1845–1849: Polk is the only speaker of the House to ever become president, making him the most accomplished of the many legislators to ever hold the office. President Lyndon Baines Johnson is the only commander in chief whose legislative experience ranks higher than Polk’s. Polk also also served for two years as the ninth governor of Tennessee.

Lyndon B. Johnson, #26, 1963–1969: Of all our presidents, Johnson arguably has the most impressive legislative resume on paper, including two Senate senate terms during which he held leadership positions for 10 years: two years as Senate majority whip, two years as minority leader and six years as majority leader. While in Congress, he also served in the Navy. His efforts to stop civil rights legislation while he was in Congress are a powerful reminder that what is impressive on a resume isn’t always impressive in reality.

Richard Nixon, #37, 1969–1974: Nixon served as a U.S. Representative and senator from California before becoming vice president under Dwight Eisenhower, becoming the most influential VP since John Adams. He chaired cabinet and National Security Council meetings, defended America’s industrial accomplishments in a debate with Khrushchev and become a foreign ambassador at large.

Starting to get the point yet? Its not just the title, it is also the accomplishments.

Ulysses S. Grant,#18, 1869–1877: He isn’t considered a good president, but leading the Union to victory in the Civil War is a pretty solid qualification.

George Washington, #1, 1789–1797: Seems like the father of the country is qualified to run the country. In more detail, during the American Revolutionary War Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the current United States Constitution and is referred to as the “father of his country.”

The point here is that President Obama was completely out of line to say that Hillary is the most qualified candidate ever, and anyone who repeats that outrageous pander clearly has no grasp whatsoever on political history in this country.

Notice that we didn’t even really get into what a bad job Hillary did at each of these positions. She did almost nothing in the Senate and seems to have been a very dishonest lawyer; obviously her tenure at the White House was a little rocky, and we all know by now that her tenure at the State Department ended with a lengthy criminal investigation.

But we don’t even have to get into all that to debunk this ridiculous talking point. The point is calling her the most accomplished presidential candidate ever isn’t only asinine, it’s just plain wrong.